Captain Morgan: Rum and history go hand-in-hand

Captain Morgan: Rum and history go hand-in-hand

Anyone who even marginally shares the current pirate fetish knows who the famous Captain Morgan was.  Aside from having a brand of rum named after him, he played a key role in shaping the history of the Caribbean, Panama in particular.  He commanded the largest privateer fleet ever assembled in the region until the fateful day when his ships sank beneath the surface of the water.  Now, it looks like underwater archaeologists have found the old sea dog’s belongings.  After a three-year search, weapons, cannons and chests of other artifacts have been discovered that look like they used to belong to the Captain.

Archaeologists have been following a trail for several years now, starting with a set of cannons found off the coast of Panama, where his fleet was sunk.  They stumbled upon some more ship remains in Lajas Reef with inscriptions marking them as Spanish and most likely victims of Morgan’s attacks.  Eventually, they found what they believe to be the lost remains of Morgan’s ship and are currently working on bringing them to the surface.

Naturally, this is going to be a long process.  Anything that comes from underwater is in danger of rapid degradation should it not be preserved properly.  When the team does manage to get the artifacts up safely, they will be put on display in Panama, telling the story of Captain Morgan’s last expedition.  Morgan has quite a few legends attached to him, both historic and fictional.  These artifacts will help to narrow down exactly what is fact and what are just tales that have grown up over the last 300 years.

What makes the discovery even better (at least for me personally) is that both the expedition and the preservation of the artifacts is being funded by the Captain Morgan brand of rum.  Sure, they have admitted that it’s all part of a marketing campaign, so they’re just trying to sell more bottles of rum, but it still helps those involved to continue their quest for knowledge.  If only more brands were named after lost bits of history, we might have all sorts of interesting archaeological expeditions going on right now.

So remember to buy yourself a bottle of rum and celebrate this amazing discovery.  If not for drunk people everywhere, this small piece of the past might have remained hidden for years or decades longer, or possibly never discovered at all.